1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to program transmission, and particularly to inducing a consumer of program transmission to continue to receive and consume program transmission during portions thereof in which he is not actively interested and which he is inclined to ignore.
2. Description of the Related Art
Broadcast industries, such as radio broadcasting and television broadcasting, derive a substantial portion of their income from charging advertisers for interspersing commercial messages (“commercials”), also known as advertisements (“ads”), into the substantive content of the broadcasts. Such advertising revenue not only provides profit for the broadcasters, but typically provides funds for operating expenses. Much broadcasting would have to be discontinued without advertising revenue.
The viewer of a television program or the listener to a radio program (hereinafter referred to as the user or consumer of programming) typically is not actively interested in the commercial, and may even perceive the commercial as an intrusion or annoyance. The user may leave the room, in which case he is still receiving, but is no longer consuming, the program. Or the user may switch to another program while the commercial is being broadcast. Modern consumer electronics devices are typically equipped with remote controls which make it a simple matter to switch to another program or “channel surf” through a plurality of other programs, and to switch back to the original program when it is adjudged that the commercials should be over. Some consumer electronics devices facilitate recording a program for delayed playback, often with the commercials “cut”. Even if the commercials are not cut, the consumer may be inclined to “fast forward” over them. Such behavior reduces the size of the audience for commercials, which in turn eventually lowers the amount that the advertisers are willing to pay the broadcasters for airing them. In effect, such behavior threatens the economic basis of commercial broadcasting.
There is thus a need to provide an incentive or inducement to the consumer to continue to consume the programming even when the substantive content is interrupted for the presentation of commercial messages.